is one of two types of two-story

mons Mons commonly refers to: * Mons, Belgium, a city in Belgium * Mons pubis (mons Venus or mons veneris), in mammalian anatomy, the adipose tissue lying above the pubic bone * Mons (planetary nomenclature), a sizable extraterrestrial mountain * Batt ...

presently used in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

(the other one being the ''

rōmon The is one of two types of two-storied gates used in Japan (the other one being the '' nijūmon'', see photo in the gallery below). Even though it was originally developed by Buddhist architecture, it is now used at both Buddhist temples and S ...

'') and can be found at most Japanese Buddhist temples. This gate is distinguishable from its relative by the roof above the first floor which skirts the entire upper story, absent in a ''rōmon''. Accordingly, it has a series of brackets ('' tokyō'') supporting the roof's

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...

both at the first and at the second story. In a ''rōmon'', the brackets support a balcony. The '' tokyō'' are usually three-stepped ( ''mitesaki'') with tail rafters at the third step. A ''nijūmon'' is normally covered by a hip-and-gable roof. Unlike a ''rōmon'', whose second story is inaccessible and unusable, a ''nijūmon'' has stairs leading to the second story. Some gates have at their ends two , 2 x 1

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

structures housing the stairs. The second story of a ''nijūmon'' usually contains statues of Shakyamuni or of goddess

Kannon Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...

, and of the 16 ''Rakan'', and hosts periodical religious ceremonies.Iwanami Nihonshi Jiten Large ''nijūmon are 5 bays wide, 2 bays deep and have three entrances, however Tokyo's

Zōjō-ji is a Jōdo-shū Buddhist temple in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is the main temple of the Jōdo-shū ("Pure Land") Chinzei sect of Buddhism in the Kantō region. Its mountain name is San'en-zan (三縁山). Zōjō-ji is notable for its relations ...

, the

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty which produced the Tokugawa shoguns who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868 during the Edo period. It was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of ...

's funerary temple, has a gate which is 5 x 3 bays. Smaller ones are 3 x 2 bays and have one, two or even three entrances. Of all temple gate types, the ''nujūmon'' has the highest status, and is accordingly used for important gates like the ''chūmon'' (middle gate) of ancient temples as Hōryū-ji. The ''

sanmon A or is the most important mon of a Japanese Zen Buddhist temple, and is part of the Zen '' shichidō garan'', the group of buildings that forms the heart of a Zen Buddhist temple.JAANUS It can be often found in temples of other denominations ...

'', the gate of a

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

temple of highest prestige, is usually a ''nijūmon''.The term ''sanmon'' originated at Zen temples, but is often used by other sects too, particularly by the Jōdo sect. Some ''nijūmon'' are called because they are situated between the entrance and the temple.

Gallery

File:Koumyouji5501.JPG, The '' Niōmon'' of Kōmyō-ji in Ayabe ( National Treasure) File:Kenchoji Gate.jpg, A ''nijūmon''. Note the double roof. File:Hannyaji Romon01.jpg, A ''rōmon''. Note the balcony and the single roof. File:Tofukiji-Sanro.jpg, One of the ''sanrō'' of Tōfuku-ji's ''sanmon'' (detail of the photo above)

Second story

Some interior images of the second story of a ''nijūmon'', in this case Kōmyō-ji's ''sanmon'' in

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

Kanagawa prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

. File:Komyoji Second Gate-Kamakura.jpg, The ''sanmon'' File:Komyoji,-Kamakura gate stairs.jpg, The stairs to the second story File:Kamakura Komyoji Inside The Sanmon 3.jpg, The second story File:Kamakura Komyoji Sanmon 2.jpg, Second story, exit to the balcony File:Kamakura Komyoji Inside-the-sanmon-1.jpg, Sacred images in the main room

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Iwanami Nihonshi Jiten (岩波日本史辞典), CD-Rom Version. Iwanami Shoten, 1999-2001 (in Japanese) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nijumon Gates in Japan Japanese architectural features Japanese Buddhist architecture